Let’s do one last shot of spring, shall we? It’s that time right before summer when the mornings are still cool, but you can feel the coming heat on your skin. You know summer is inevitable and you enjoy the warmth, but you’re not overwhelmed by it. Some of the summer flowers have already begun to bloom. Some of the spring flowers are long gone. It’s that time in-between times, the transition, which is so delicious at times. Enjoy!

If you should like to license an image of mine, I’ve begun to build a catalog at Picfair. You can see it here: photos.raoulpop.com. Of course you can also contact me directly, but it’s probably easier to just get them there, and I think I’ve priced them quite affordably.

Places

Today’s images

It’s been (and still is) a particularly lovely springtime in our garden, so I’m sharing more of that with you. Enjoy!

Places

Today’s images

Ligia’s hard work planting all kinds of new flowers in our garden last year has definitely paid off. This spring we’ve enjoyed quite a few different kinds of daffodils and tulips — and that was on top of the usual spring appearances from hyacinths, forget-me-nots, dandelions, snowdrops, violets and more. It’s been lovely!

By the way, I took these photographs with my Olympus E-1, a DSLR made in 2003. Don’t let anyone tell you old cameras can’t meet your needs anymore.

Places

Today’s images

I know the title of this post sounds like a silly band name, but this is actually about our cat Tiki and a bunch of Garrulous Jays. These birds just love to tease our cats by parroting their meows and getting them to climb onto high branches in our trees, only to fly into the next tree and to start over, hoping to fool them twice. They also whistle and imitate other species of birds.

This particular morning, about 7-8 jays descended onto one of our paulownia trees and began to chirp in a way we hadn’t heard before. They also raised up the crests of feathers on the tops of their heads, which was also something we hadn’t seen before. Perhaps it was their mating ritual and they were trying to impress a female. Well, our curiousity was piqued, so I got my camera for a closer look. Tiki also couldn’t resist the challenge, even though he’s been fooled by them plenty of times before. Up the tree he went while the jays retreated to higher branches and kept a close eye on him while they chatted and chirped for about 10 minutes, then flew away unmolested.

Sorry Tiki, fooled again!

Places

Tiki and the Jays

In spite of repeated visits from Old Man Winter (whose visits I love by the way), spring is in the air and the flowers in our garden have been in bloom for weeks. Here are 20 images I’ve taken recently.